Contras Set New Demands for Talks

By GEORGE VOLSKY, Special to the New York Times

Published: December 31, 1987

MIAMI, Dec. 30—
Leaders of the Nicaraguan rebels, hardening their negotiating position, presented several new demands today for their participation in peace talks with the Sandinista Government.

Five of the six leaders of the Nicaraguan Resistance, the main contra group, issued what appeared to be an ultimatum to President Daniel Ortega Saavedra and to Miguel Cardinal Obando y Bravo, the Roman Catholic Primate of Nicaragua, who has been acting as a mediator in the talks.

President Ortega and Cardinal Obando met Tuesday in Managua and according to news reports agreed to call for another round of peace talks with the rebels either in Belize or in Panama. Two rounds of talks have been held in the Dominican Republic without any agreement.

Today the rebel leaders demanded a meeting with the Cardinal in Guatemala before resuming any discussions with the Sandinistas. 'Clear Disadvantage'

''There won't be a new round of talks with the Sandinistas until the full Nicaraguan Resistance directorate has met with the Cardinal in Guatemala,'' said Alfredo Cesar, one of the contra leaders. He said that while President Ortega sees Cardinal Obando ''any time he wishes,'' contra leaders have been able to speak with the prelate only individually and briefly, putting them at a ''clear disadvantage.''

Mr. Cesar said the meeting ''has to be'' in Guatemala. He ruled out Miami, which the Cardinal visits frequently and where the contra leaders spend considerable time, ''because it is not part of Central America.'' Asked what the contra leaders wanted to discuss with the Cardinal, he said, ''Nothing in particular.''

The rebels' harder line appears to be a result of their recent successes on two fronts. About two weeks ago, they mounted what they described as the largest and most successful military operation of their war against the Sandinistas; several days later Congress approved a bill giving them $8.1 million in nonmilitary aid, including food, clothing, shelter and medical supplies.

Contra leaders denied today that they had lost confidence in the impartiality of the Cardinal. They said that when they requested a meeting with him Tuesday, he told them that President Ortega had objected to such an encounter, indicating it would compromise his mediating role. Presidents Scheduled to Meet

But privately the contras expressed concern over what one leader described as ''strong pressures on Obando to adopt a more pro-Sandinista position,'' which they fear could influence the presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, who along with Mr. Ortega signed the Central American peace plan on Aug. 7. The five are to meet on Jan. 15 to assess the progress, or the lack of it, in fulfilling the accord's provisions.

The contra leaders were also adamant against extending the Jan. 15 deadline for compliance with the accord. Mr. Cesar said that the Nicaraguan Resistance would regard any modification of the peace plan as an introduction of a new one and would have to ''reconsider'' its acceptance.

''If the four presidents do not tell clearly Ortega before Jan. 15 that he must show more flexibility, the peace plan is dead,'' he said.

Commenting on the suggestion of President Ortega and Cardinal Obando that the two sides meet in Belize or in Panama, he said that Belize ''lacks infrastructure'' for a meeting and that Panama could not be trusted because it was ''pro-Sandinista.''

In addition to Mr. Cesar, those present at the news conference today were Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, Adolfo Calero, Alfonso Robelo and Aristedes Sanchez. The other member of the rebel leadership, Maria Azucena Ferray, could not attend for personal reasons, the contras said.

The contra leaders also insisted on face-to-face talks with the Sandinistas, which Managua has rejected.